Bab Al Shams

Well I'm safely in London at my new friend Greg's apartment. I will have to say that my faith in British Airways has been much improved because my flight this morning was much more enjoyable. I watched Wanted, slept through most of Wall-E, and saw the first 45 minutes of Hancock - I slept for a couple hours here and there - I am so glad that I didn't listen to my mom and that I brought my own pillow. It made my trip so much more enjoyable! :-) However, if you ever go to Dubai, don't follow any of the car rental return signs because they do NOT point in the right direction. Almost as if they didn't want your to ever leave Dubai, we circled around the airport once before we actually found the correct entrance into the car return place. OMFG - thank God there's only like five people flying out of Dubai international - otherwise we wouldn't have made the flight!


So last night we went to the desert to go to a restaurant that is, of course, connected with the same chain of restaurants that owned the same resort where we were staying - Bab al Shams. We went for a drink on the rooftop of the hotel/spa to watch the sun set over the desert and then we went over to the outdoor restaurant to have dinner, hold a falcon, and ride camels. The restaurant was enormous - it was buffet style and had anything you could ever want (try not to think Las Vegas hotel buffet, more UR Cooks grille sans you doing the cooking). It was fabou - I had some roasted chicken with paprika, beef tenderloin, miscellaneous vegetables, and Baskin Robbins ice cream (BR is huge in Dubai apparently - its everywhere.)


Carleen and I on a camel. The things I do for work... lol













My first time engaging in falconry. They put little hoods on the falcons so they aren't actually able to see anything. I guess that keeps them from nipping at your eyeballs/flingers.... Carleen also held a falcon...


















So this might be a strange picture... The camels are quite a bit taller than the average horse. As such, you have to mount them while they are crouched down on the ground. Then, once you're on and completely unawares, they spring up, much like a roller coaster. Naturally, what goes up, must come down, and this is an action shot of the camel sinking down onto his knees to let Audrey and I off of his back. Its like when a chair is pulled out from underneath you... about that surprising. It was great tho! I have FINALLY ridden a camel! :-) My journey is complete!